Microsoft adds 1080p emulator images to Windows Phone SDK

Developing for Windows Phone 8? You’re going to want to head to the Microsoft Download Center to get an update for the Windows Phone 8.0 SDK. What’s the big change? You can now test your app against a 1080p emulator to see how your work runs on devices like the Nokia Lumia 1520.

In a blog post over on the Windows Phone Developer Blog, Cliff Simpkins details new emulators that help with correspond to both Update 2 (GDR2) and Update 3 of Windows Phone 8. You’ll be installing these additions with your existing install of the Windows Phone 8.0 SDK.

The new emulator images for Update 2 (8.0.10322) only apply to developers that only have Visual Studio 2013 RTM installed. If you’re already running the original Windows Phone 8.0 Update 2 emulators installed you don’t need to install these.

The biggest and most important change is the emulators for Update 3. This set of images matches up with Windows Phone 8 Update 3 and brings in 1080p support. This will allow you to test your app on 1080 x 1920 resolution screens versus needing to own the Lumia 1520. Going forward we’ll be seeing more and more Windows Phone devices with 1080p displays, so it was only a matter of time before Microsoft added emulator support for developers to test their apps.